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Take Two Settles Hot Coffee Suit For Millions

Posted by Zonk on Fri Nov 09, 2007 09:04 AM
from the really-should-have-thought-that-one-through dept.
Government The Courts Entertainment Games News
Amidst the furor over the various Manhunt 2 controversies, Take Two has announced that it just dealt with its last big scandal, Hot Coffee. Kotaku has the release from the publisher, in which it states that the class action suit leveled against it some two years ago has ended in a settlement that may end up costing the company as much as $2.75 million dollars. "The lawsuit against Take-Two is still pending, but should the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York agree to the settlement, claims against the company will be dismissed 'without any admission of liability or wrongdoing by Take-Two or Rockstar.' The publisher says that it will pay out between $1.025 million and $2.75 million in settlement benefits, which range from an edited copy of GTA: San Andreas to a cash payment up to $35 for those who can provide proof of purchase of the game from before July 20, 2005."
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[+] Gaming's 10 Biggest Scandals 96 comments
GamePolitics has a list of ten of the most well known gaming scandals to hit the games industry. Starting back in 1993 with the senate hearings on Night Trap (a game that arguably led to today's ESRB), the list catalogs some things that the companies responsible would probably just as soon forget. "Hot Coffee (2005) - needs no introduction. Cheeky Rockstar programmers left hidden sex animations (accidentally or otherwise) buried in the PS2 code of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Modders made sure they didn't stay buried for long. Rockstar's denials only made things worse. And then Hillary got involved ..." At the post's close they call for additional nominations, as it's definitely not an exhaustive list. They left off the ESRB's decision to re-rate Oblivion , for example. What 'scandalous' gaming events can you see rating with this topics?
[+] Take-Two Confirms PSP Hack, Snubs Devs 35 comments
Gamasutra reports that Take-Two Entertainment, Rockstar's publisher, has confirmed the existence of uncensored Manhunt 2 versions available online. They defend themselves, in their initial statement, by pointing out you need a modded PSP in order to play the purposefully-hidden content. Meanwhile, the game news site also notes that Take-Two/Rockstar hasn't done a very good job of giving credit where credit is due when it comes to the development of their ultra-violent title. "Jurie Horneman, who was one of the producers on the title before Rockstar Vienna was closed and development on the game was moved to Rockstar London, where it was completed, commented in a detailed weblog post that he '...intends to correct an inaccuracy in the game's credits, namely the over 55 missing Rockstar Vienna employees who worked on the game from January 2004 until the studio was closed down on May 11th 2006.'" Update: 11/02 19:52 GMT by Z :An ESRB investigation has cleared Rockstar of involvement with the hacked AO version of the game. IE: The AO content is not an element on the PSP disc. Title of post changed to reflect that.
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Take Two Settles Hot Coffee Suit For Millions 46 Comments More /

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  • in an attempt to make some money.

  • File for the check, then mail it back to Take Two! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by thealpha (308746) * on Friday November 09 2007, @09:16AM (#21293925)
    I wish I had bought my copy early to particiapte in this.

    I recommend to all gamers who are entitled to this refund and disagree with our government acting as our parents, to submit for your check and sign it over to Take Two, mail it back to them with a thank you note.

    I have a father and am one and I don't need someone else telling me what I can and can't do with my artistic media.

    P.S. Give me Manhunt 2 - AO!
    • Excellent idea. Mod parent up please. Me too if you're feeling generous.
    • I bought my copy in June '05, right when it came out for the PC so I'm eligible. The thing is, you have to submit proof of purchase (possibly receipt) to R* and they cut you the check. Needless to say, I wasn't offended at all by the hot coffee mod, and it isn't worth the effort to dig through old credit card receipts and cut up that nice DVD booklet for a measly $35 that may come next year.

      Then again, I am tempted to mail in my proof-of-purchase with a letter thanking them and telling them that I don't

    • But only if can sell out your integrity... (Score:5, Informative)

      by doug141 (863552) on Friday November 09 2007, @10:40AM (#21294933)
      Here's the full terms, note sections B, C, and D.

      Under the terms of the settlement, class members will be able to claim benefits if they swear that they: (a) bought a copy of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas before July 20, 2005; (b) were offended and upset by the ability of consumers to modify and alter the game's content using the third-party Hot Coffee modification; (c ) would not have bought the game had they known that consumers could modify and alter the game's content using the third-party Hot Coffee modification; and (d) would have returned the game, upon learning the game could be modified and altered, if they thought this possible. Settlement class members who attest to these facts may apply for benefits that range from an exchange of the game disk for an edited copy of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to a cash payment of up to $35 for consumers who submit detailed proofs of purchase.
      • e) Are dishonest and fanatic enough to lie about a-d for $35.
        • You'd only need to lie about b-d. According to the quote, you can only get $35 cash if you have your receipt. Otherwise, all you get is a free copy of the game with content removed.

          It seems like they're not really going to lose much on this deal. How many people keep a receipt for a video game for two years?

  • Now (Score:5, Funny)

    by Dunbal (464142) on Friday November 09 2007, @09:16AM (#21293927)
    Both Take Two and McDonald's have learned that Hot Coffee can be expensive....

    • McDonald's have learned that Hot Coffee can be expensive....

      Random off topic musing on my part, but the idea that McDonald's had to pay because of the coffee thing is completely wrong. Their insurance company had to pay because of the coffee lawsuit, not McDonald's.

  • what's the world coming to? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by PJ1216 (1063738) * on Friday November 09 2007, @09:16AM (#21293937) Homepage
    i don't understand how people can be upset about content that is effectively unlocked from the game unless you go out of your way to unlock it. how can you get offended by something you went out of your way to get, knowing full well exactly what it was? and if you didn't unlock it, how the hell are you offended by something that you can't access? i swear that this entire country is being populated by babies. people are getting offended even when they're not the ones getting insulted. its as if people are going out of their way to be offended. ugh.
    • How can people be upset? Easy, because they can make money or fuel their persecution complex off it. The whole issue was a non-issue to me, as you had to go out of your way to unlock this, and two other mature games that year, Gow of War and Killer 7, had far more graphic depections of sex yet still got an M rating.

    • Re:what's the world coming to? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by 4D6963 (933028) on Friday November 09 2007, @09:46AM (#21294251)

      how the hell are you offended by something that you can't access?

      I know it's a comparison a bit far fetched, but somehow it's just like these "concerned parents" demonstrating in the streets for they're offended because their children have access to violent video games/music/shows/movies when the said children are not supposed to be allowed by their parents to have access to it in the first place. Makes me wonder why they don't also demonstrate against pornographers for making movies that are too obscene for children or even strip clubs for not being sufficiently family-friendly. I know it's different, but when you think about it it all boils down to the problem of access.

      In other news, once undressed, I'm obscenely naked.

    • Quite easily ;) (Score:4, Funny)

      by Moraelin (679338) on Friday November 09 2007, @10:10AM (#21294525) Journal

      i don't understand how people can be upset about content that is effectively unlocked from the game unless you go out of your way to unlock it.


      Bah, you obviously haven't had the traumatizing experiences some of us had.

      I remember when someone made patch for The Sims that removed the pixelated blur when they were naked. E.g., in the shower. So I downloaded it.

      Lemme tell you, I wasn't just upset, I was appalled. They didn't look anything like naked people. They looked like a barbie doll that someone dropped in a mud puddle. (Presumably so the contrast would look right through the blur.) Plus, not only they didn't have genitals, they didn't even have nipples.

      And if you think all that's shocking so far, wait for the real horror. You know how the same blur showed up when they sat on the toilet? Well, without the blur you can see that they sit down and take a dump, without pulling down their pants first. Now that's an image that you'll wish you never saw.

      So, yeah, sue their pants off, I say. Preferrably before they sit on the toilet ;)
    • This lawsuit is for all of the parents who bought the game for their young children thinking that there wasn't any obscene content. Imagine their horror when they learned that there was unlockable sex in it!
    • i don't understand how people can be upset about content that is effectively unlocked from the game unless you go out of your way to unlock it.

      If they are Take-Two shareholder I can see them being upset. Returns, replacements, refunds, lawsuits, ... Hot Coffee was a risk that shareholders had a right to know about and the lack of disclosure did warrant government investigation from the SEC. The rules are different when you are a public company. You want to take chances, do it with your own money not wit
    • People are greedy and stupid. It's worth destroying our Constitutional rights to free speech just to get a couple dollars. I'm surprised they didn't sue Intel and Nvidia too as evidently if you write your own code that uses their products you can be offended by showing yourself naked people.

      Most days I'm disgusted to be an American. I think this is one of those days. My fellow citizens disgust me. People get the government they deserve and that says a lot about the state the US is in.
    • i don't understand how people can be upset about content that is effectively unlocked from the game unless you go out of your way to unlock it.

      because it undermines faith in the ratings system and trust in the developer.

      rockstar releases an M rated game with hidden AO content and when the content is unlocked - as it will be - it puts the blame on the modding community to maintain plausible denial.

      from hot coffee we move on to the thinly veiled psycho kills of Manhunt 2 and to whatever mischief will be u

      • I say more power to them. It enables them to sell the game (cause if its rated AO, its effectively banned) and then for the people who want to actually access the AO content, they can do so. The game the person purchased is STILL rated M. They have to act of their own accord to change it. It's the equivalent of having a free download for AO content, 'cept it comes pre-downloaded and you have to do a lot more work to actually get it to work. If a rated-M game offered an AO-content add-on, should the rat

  • Silly settlement (Score:5, Insightful)

    by faloi (738831) on Friday November 09 2007, @09:18AM (#21293947)
    But it's probably good for Take Two. Basically, if you really thought the game was horribly offensive and you're willing to swear to it, you get a brand new copy of the game that has the offensive material removed. If you're really outraged that it slipped out into public, and you want to stick it to the company, you can provide detailed receipts from over two years ago and they'll send you $35. I'm betting the take rate won't be very high on the settlement.

    • Re: (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I bet the "take rate" from the lawyers who filed the class action suite is really really high.

      I'm not sure when people will realize that class action rarely, if ever, benefits the individuals harmed and only helps the lawyers and the people being sued.
    • Go ahead, grab a receipt from 2 years ago. Seriously, go grab that Best Buy receipt that you actually saved for some odd reason like for warranty purposes. I'll wait.

      Doesn't look like much of a receipt, does it? Actually it looks like a blank fucking piece of paper. That's because it was either printed on thermal paper or some very soft blue ink that's similar to the prankster's favorite Disappearing Ink. These things are lucky to last a month let alone two whole years. Go ahead and try to prove that
  • $2.75 million pays for one hell of a marketing campaign.
  • The "Hot Coffee" mod was so tame that I really don't see what all the fuss was about.

  • i just don't get it (Score:5, Insightful)

    by loafula (1080631) on Friday November 09 2007, @09:57AM (#21294379) Journal

    Junior, it's ok for you to car-jack that poor old man. When you're done, feel free to fuck that hooker and then beat her to death with a baseball bat to get your cash back. Don't worry when the police come, just mow them down with your AK-47. Woah... wait.. There are boobies in this? This is horrible and disgusting, and now fucking jesus is crying.
    It just goes to show how truly fucked our morals are. I love how all the senseless violence is fine and dandy, but nudity and sex is considered evil.

    • Re:i just don't get it (Score:5, Funny)

      by djasbestos (1035410) on Friday November 09 2007, @10:31AM (#21294797)
      And it's the opposite in Europe.

      "Yes, Klaus, fuck zat bitch good, she is liking ze nasty...boobiess? So vat, ve see zem everywhere. And ze depiction of ze Schwanz going into ze Fotze. Und zen ze Scheißen und shpanken und...oh mein Gott! A veapon! You don't need to be hurting anyone, Klaus...you can vork zis out peacefully. Violence is not a solution! Perhaps you can rent a car somewhere...ze exercise vill be good for you. If you shtop, ze police vill certainly sort it aus and realize it's all a grosse misunderstand."
    • I completely agree.

      The lawsuit is frivolous at best.

      Any parent who bought this for their child needs their head examined.

      taking a baseball bat to an old lady in the street just doesn't compare with boobs. It's this christian revolution in our country. It has diluted our morals.

      Jesus would never beat a hooker. Jesus would never mow down citizens in an old beater. As for boobs, Jesus says, "release the twins".
      • Revolution? It's the reason ya'all got your asses kicked out of europe in the first place :P
        • Actually I'm here because some genius thought that growing only one type of potato was a good idea. It's amazing how much misery England caused in such a short amount of time.

    • [...]feel free to fuck that hooker and then beat her to death with a baseball bat to get your cash back[...]

      Actually, in Australia, GTA3 and GTA Vice City were banned because you were able to do that, "sexual violence". Both times if was after a complaint, not a decision originating at the OFLC [oflc.gov.au]. San Andreas wasn't banned because of that, but was banned because of Hot Coffee. (PS The games were rereleased and allowed.)

  • Now play hardball and have fun, Take Two... (Score:3, Funny)

    by nweaver (113078) on Friday November 09 2007, @10:58AM (#21295267) Homepage
    In order to get your $35, not only do you have to say, under penalty of perjury, that you bought the game, but that you also would NOT have bought it if you knew there was third party unlockable content of this sort...

    So what Take Two should do is do some random trolling through the responses, and play a little "investigate the plaintiff" game. And then attempt to prosecute individual class members for purjury, as a way of putting a hurt on these stupid class action suits.
    • I like this idea. More companies should do this. I get so many class action lawsuit letters in the mail, and I'm sure people just sign on for the free cash.

    • In order to get your $35, not only do you have to say, under penalty of perjury, that you bought the game, but that you also would NOT have bought it if you knew there was third party unlockable content of this sort...
      Well, the first one is so trivial to confirm that probably everyone who got the money was already vetted.

      The second is so impossible to disprove that it would be total waste of money trying.
    • Usually, when a company settles like this, its because they don't want to continue paying the court fees. Going back to court in search of criminal prosecution, would not do them any good if this is the case.
  • Like, what amazes me the most about these kinds of lawsuits, is why the companies settle. Why not take it to a jury trial? I don't see any way TT could possibly lose if they did. The whole reason the suit even exists is because people don't understand the issues - once they do there is no way it would be upheld. I mean, you can bring in ANY product manufacturer as a witness! For example:

    TT Lawyer - So Mr Disney - are you aware that with a small 3rd party modification I can access PORNOGRAPHY in your motion picture Snow White?
    • Well, that's a simplification too. All the "offensive" content was in the game to begin with, and was made by the game company itself. This is not really a third party mod, it's more like hacking Half-Life 2 so you can use the PhysGun or play on the sinking ship level (was that in the shipped version, or just the leaked beta?).

      I still disagree that they are liable--the content is only accessible with deliberate, extraordinary measures, meaning anybody that saw the content wanted to. But I don't see this cas
    • Like, what amazes me the most about these kinds of lawsuits, is why the companies settle. Why not take it to a jury trial? I don't see any way TT could possibly lose if they did.

      The jury recently awarded $222,000 in damages to the RIAA in a P2P file-sharing case. It seriously considered upping the ante even more.

      The geek thought his side had a winner there too.

      The plaintiff gets the first crack at defining the issues for a jury that in all probability won't want to set a precedent for allowing strong ad

  • WTF - BS (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Foo2rama (755806) on Friday November 09 2007, @02:35PM (#21299403) Homepage Journal
    I am sorry, you needed to go online and download a hack to make this work. If you had the access to get this mod, then you had access to way worse stuff on the internet. I am going to make a nude mod for battlefied 2142 and go start teabagging all the guys I kill. This is exactly the same thing with the Hot Coffee mod, so why does Rockstar need to pay for a change that someone else unlocked?
  • What a sad sad storry this really is, the US have again shown how ridiculous law and order is caried out.
    This case from start to end is one big fucking joke, showing how religious folkes have success in forcing
    their moral standards upon others.
    A lot of good stuff is comming out of the US, but boy am I glad living on the other side of the atlantic ocean,
    when witnessing how the goverment supports peoples right to get offended.

     

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